CNN Reporter Calls Israelis ‘Scum’ as They Bomb Gaza

She used to cover the millennia-old tension between Israel and the rest of the Middle East until recently. Why no more? She had a bad day at the office recently during the most current dust-up on the Gaza Strip.

Behind her report in “The Situation Room” were some onlookers who were cheering the explosions from missiles launched by the Israeli army. Much to Magnay’s chagrin, she called our allies to the east “scum” and lost her gig.

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” ~G.K. Chesterton

Conflict of any type must involve pride in a belief. If you know a modicum of history, you know what kind of pride we are dealing with in the Middle East. Diana Magnay may have forgotten about that when she was assigned to cover recent events in the area.

During her on-air report, Magnay pointed out the trail of rockets that could be seen leaving Israeli positions to take out Hamas. “I think you can probably see there are lots of Israelis gathered around who are cheering when they see these kinds of Israeli strikes,” she noted. It was a scene that was “macabre.”

Following that report, she took to Twitter with the screengrab seen above (and below). She tried to delete it, but that whole real-time thing got in the way.

In her defense, the threats she mentioned were real–but this whole “news” thing is supposed to be occur sans opinions. That a hard principle to enforce in the world of national network news, which is why this apology was provided in Magnay’s absence (we assume someone wisely took her smartphone).

“After being threatened and harassed before and during a liveshot, Diana reacted angrily on Twitter,” a CNN spokeswoman said in a statement to The Huffington Post. “She deeply regrets the language used, which was aimed directly at those who had been targeting our crew,” the spokeswoman continued. “She certainly meant no offense to anyone beyond that group, and she and CNN apologize for any offense that may have been taken.”

Magnay may have been familiar with Chesterton’s quote; at any rate, her job as foreign correspondent is now behind her.

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